Jointed shoe sole



Patented Apr. '25, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFic-E 2,347,166 JOINTEDSHOE sons Julius Baer, Beverly Hills, Calif.

Application July 5, 1943, Serial No. 493,529

(c1. afs-s3) 4 Claims.

This invention relates to the construction of a sole of a shoe. Onaccount of the present industrial requirements, restrictions have beenplaced on the use of materials ordinarily used for shoe soles, as aconsequence of which it is necessary to make shoe soles of othermaterials, and for this purpose wood is a convenient and availablematerial. But, oi course, wood has the objection of rigidity ifconstructed of the thickness usually employed in shoe soles.

It has been suggested heretofore to overcome the objection of rigidityin using wood for shoe soles, by employing one or more joints in theconstruction of the sole, that enable the sole to flex at one or morelines or axes extending transversely to the sole. Many specicconstructions have been Isuggested to be employed in the manufacture ofsuch a joint, but many of them require the use of some metal parts intheir construction; and, furthermore, they are generally constructed sothat the sections of the sole that are jointed together, cannot bereadily separated without the use of special tools.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a shoe solehaving a transverse joint, or joints, so constructed as to adapt thesole to be constructed of a rigid material such as wood, or similarmaterial. y

Another object of the invention is to provide a shoe sole adapted to beconstructed of wood, or similar material, and having a joint constructedso as to enable the parts to be readily separated at the joint, therebyenabling a worn toe portion of a shoe sole to be discarded, and a newtoe portion attached in place, without necessitating the employment ofspecial tools for this purpose.

Another object of the invention is to produce a sole particularlyadapted to be constructed of a rigid material such as wood, and having ajoint permitting a limited amount of flexing of the sole in walking, andin which all the parts at the joint can be constructed of the samematerial Y Fig. l is a plan view and partial section illuse.

trating the shoe sole embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken about on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1,and further illustrating details of the construction illustrated in Fig.l.

Fig. 3 is an edge view showing the edge of one of the articulatedportions of the shoe sole illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a similar edge View of the articulated edge of the otherarticulated part of the shoe which, in the present instance, is the heelportion.

Before proceeding to a more detailed description of the invention, itshould be stated that in the present ISpecification and drawing, I havedescribed and illustrated a shoe sole having a sin,- gle joint, but inpractice if desired, two or more such joints may be employed. n

In practicing the invention I provide al Sole l which, in the presentinstance, is composed of two portions including a heel portion la and atoe portion lb. These two portions la and lb are articulated or jointedtogether by means of a joint 2. The joint 2 is formed by providing oneof the meeting edges of these two parts la and lb with a concave socket.In the present instance, I provide the rear edge of the toe section lbwith a concave socket 3 which is a cylindrical face having its axis atthe point 4, but this face 3 is not continuous but is broken through bymeans of a tongue 5 that is disposed at about the medial horizontalplane of the toe section ib, and which projects toward the heel sectionla. s This tongue 5 may be made integral with the toe piece Ib, or itmay be made if desired, as a separate part mortised at its root into thepart Ib, asV will be readily understood by wood-workers.

The adjacent face or forward edge of the heel,

portion la, is formed with a convex face 6, which also has its axis atthe point 4 as indicated in Fig. 2, so that this forward edge of thepart Vla can socket itself and t nicely into the socket 3.

The forward portion of the heel portion,V la is formed with a.transversely extending socket in the form of a bore l, which also hasits axis at the point 4, and the tongue 5 is provided at its outerportion with a bolster or tenon 8 which is in the form of a cylindricalpin that ts neatly so as to socket itself in the bore l. While thistenori 8 may if desired, be formed as an integral part of the tongue 5,in the present instance this tenon is made of a separate piece of woodwith the grain running longitudinally of the tenon. Likewise, the grainin the tongue 5 preferably extends in the direction in which the tonguelextends, that is to say, in a front and rear-direction with respect tothe Shoe sole. If the tenon 8 is constructed as a separate piece, itshould be provided with a slot on one side to fit closely asV a'socketon the end portion of the tongue, and maybe secured to the same by glue,or other means.

The outer `wall of the cylindrical socket l, that is to say, the wall 9that is disposed adjacent to the socket 3, is formed with a slot illthat extends transversely to the sole, and this slot has a 'width thatis slightly greater than the thickness of the tongue 5, so that a slightclearance space or Vlost motion space Il is formed in the joint neartheroot of the tongue 5. The edges of this vslot .Y act as Stops to limitthe exing movement in both directions.

In constructing this joint, the axis of the joint indicated at the point4, is preferably located about in the medial plane between the upperface I2 of the shoe sole and its lower face I3; and at the under side Imay form two diverging beveled shoulders I4. This will prevent the napof carpet, or dirt, from being pinched between these shoulders. Theclearance space I I between the edges of the slot I and the tongue. 5,will permit a limited flexing movement of the toe portion Ib in walking.

At the upper l.portion'of the joint the rear and lupper Vportion of thetoe portion Ibis preferably formed with a relieved edge I; in otherWords, the arc or cylindrical surface 6 is substantially tangent to theupper face I2 at this point. vMy'purpose in constructing the upper sideof the joint in this way, is to avoid forming shoulders on the upperside between which the through this head, of a slightly greater widthrthan the tongue 5, so as to permit the edge portion I8 of the tonguel(seelig. 1) to iitinto this slot I'I when the parts are assembled; andthe assembling of these parts may be accomplished by inserting the endI9 of the bolster in the mouth of the bore l, and then shifting the toeportion laterally with respect to the heel portion,v This will cause'the bolster or tenon v8` to telescope into its socket l. Thistelescoping movement will continue until the inner end-oi the bolster 3comes up against the inner face of the wall or head I6. At the otherend, of the bolster the tongue 5 vand the end face of the bolster areiiushwith each other as illustrated inFig. 1. l K Y It is mostadvantageousrto have the parts'of this sole constructed as described,because in practice, most of the wear will occur on the toe portion I b,and when this portion becomes worn it can be readily disconnected, and anew toe portion having the same construction, substi` tuted. A y

Wooden soles constructed as described, are of course inexpensive due tothe fact that they can be constructed of wood, or similar material,y andalso on account of the fact that the operations necessary to formV thejoint, are very simple and easily performed. l Y l This sole can be,used in the construction of other shoes if desired, `or for sport shoesor sandals, `or for any other kind of footwear.

,Inpractica if desired, the stop Wall IB can-be placed at the inner`edge of the solel instead of at the outer edge as illustrated in Fig. 1.`Furthermore, if this sole is employed with a sandal` type upper thatdoes not provide'means for cov-V4 ering the outer end of the joint (atthe edge opposite the ,wall I6), amudguard or strip of flexible materialsuchA as leather, can be worked along the4 edge of the sole at thispoint.

In adapting the sole to special requirements of any purchaser, it willbe evident that if the wearer of the shoe desires a greater amount ordegree of flexing at the joint, the amount of the flexing can beincreasedby widening the slot II,

by cutting back its upper or lower edge.

As all of the contacting curved faces that com- 7 pose the joint, havethe same axis at the point v .4 (as viewed in Fig. 2), it will beevident that this joint provides a true socket joint connection betweenthe two parts of the sole.

v other member having a slot therein; the other of said members having aconcave cylindrical face at its meeting edge operating as a socket forthe said convex face, and having a tongue of less thickness than thewidth of said slot extending through the saidv slot into the said bore,said tongue having a cylindrical bolster at the inner end thereof,mountedl to rock on 'its axis in the said bore, said slot and saidtongue cooperating to permit exing of said members at said joint to alimited degree.

2. In a shoe sole, the combination of two members having a jointconnection between the same, one of said elements having a transversemeeting edge for the joint having a convex cylindrical surface with itstransverse axis extending through said member, said member having asocket therein in the form of a bore disposed on the said axis, the wallof said bore on the side toward the other member having a slot therein;the other of said members having a concave cylindrical face ,I at itsmeeting vedge operating as a socket for the said convex face, and havinga tongue of less thickness than the width of said slot extending throughthe said slot into the said bore, said tongue lhaving a cylindricalybolster embedding the inner end thereof rigid with said tongue, mountedto rock on its axis in the said bore, said slot and said tonguecooperating to permit flexing of said members at said joint to a limiteddegree.

3. A shoe sole in accordance with claim- 1, in which the slot and thesaid bore extend in from a side edge of the sole, thereby enabling thesaid members to be jointed together by moving one of said memberslaterally with respect to the other with the bolster and bore in line soas to telescope with each other.

4. A shoe sole in accordance with claim 1, in which the slot in the saidbore extends in from a side edge of the sole, thereby enabling `thesaidl members to be secured together by moving one of said memberslaterally with respect to the other while telescoping the said bolsterinto the said bore; the said bore having an end wall adjacent one edgeagainst which the adjacent end of the bolster may abut to operateas astop for the lateral telescoping movement when the two members are inproper longitudinal alignment with each other. j

JULIUS BAER.

